{"url":"https://policetransparencynj.com/departments/phillipsburg-pd/","summary":"Phillipsburg Police Department, a municipal agency in Warren County, reported 36 internal affairs investigations in 2025 with 23 officers named in those cases. The rate of 156.5 per 100 officers ran above the Warren County median of 128.3 and the 125.9 municipal median, a spread that can mean more misconduct or a department that documents a larger share of the complaints against it. Of the 36 investigations detailed for 2025, 10 reported sustained complaints. Other Departmental Rule Violation and Differential Treatment were the leading allegation categories, with Neglect of Duty next.\n\nThree major discipline records appear across the 2020-2025 releases, from 2023, 2024 and 2025, including one termination. Phillipsburg received an F on the report card, at the 85th percentile among 110 peers in the 30-59 officers group, a high-confidence grade.","note":"Compiled from New Jersey Attorney General public data by an independent project; not a government source. Every value is as reported, with its sourceRef. Method: https://policetransparencynj.com/methodology/","data":{"agency":{"id":"phillipsburg-pd","slug":"phillipsburg-pd","name":"Phillipsburg PD","fullName":"Phillipsburg Police Department","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","type":"municipal-pd","aliases":["Phillipsburg PD-Warren","Phillipsburg PD|Warren"]},"totalsByYear":[{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2021,"officers":11,"investigations":12,"incidents":12,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-agency-totals","sheet":"Sheet1","row":505}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2022,"officers":11,"investigations":13,"incidents":13,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-agency-totals","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1528}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2023,"officers":13,"investigations":20,"incidents":20,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-agency-totals","sheet":"Sheet1","row":2032}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2024,"officers":18,"investigations":27,"incidents":23,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-agency-totals","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1013}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2025,"officers":23,"investigations":36,"incidents":29,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-agency-totals","sheet":"Sheet1","row":2551}}],"mdRecords":[{"id":"scott-palmer-phillipsburg-pd-r816","year":2025,"countyName":"Warren","countySlug":"warren","agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","rank":"Patrolman","firstName":"Scott","lastName":"Palmer","officerSlug":"scott-palmer-phillipsburg-pd","terminated":"no","demoted":"no","suspended":"yes","daysSuspended":"not_reported","separatedWhileIAPending":"yes","otherSanction":"Loss of time","sustainedCharges":"Computer Criminal Access, Official Misconduct & Aggravated Assault upon L.E. Officer // Ptl. Scott Palmer came to police headquarters in an off-duty capacity at 04:25:21 hours. This was confirmed with our key fob master system. He accessed our department’s desktop computer in the squad room at 04:25:46 hours. Palmer then entered into our department’s InfoShare System at 04:30 hours; when he did this, he checked the name of a town resident. This was confirmed through an InfoShare Transaction Log Report audit search. Palmer then left headquarters and drove to the resident's home and banged on the front door. Once the resident came out on the front porch, Palmer began assaulting him. The Police arrived on sceen and a female Uniformed Officer attempted intercede, Palmer assaulted the Uniformed Officer.","description":"Grand Jury Indictment, pending criminal trial.","sourceRef":{"file":"major-discipline-2020-2025","sheet":"Major Discipline Data","row":816}},{"id":"jeffery-sullivan-phillipsburg-pd-r1456","year":2024,"countyName":"Warren","countySlug":"warren","agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","rank":"Patrolman","firstName":"Jeffery","lastName":"Sullivan","officerSlug":"jeffery-sullivan-phillipsburg-pd","terminated":"no","demoted":"no","suspended":"no","daysSuspended":"not_reported","separatedWhileIAPending":"no","otherSanction":"Monetary fine or loss of pay","sustainedCharges":"Neglect of Duty, Improper operation fo department vehicle, & Liability of department equipment.","description":"Third at fault accident with department vehicle.","sourceRef":{"file":"major-discipline-2020-2025","sheet":"Major Discipline Data","row":1456}},{"id":"gary-ricker-phillipsburg-pd-r2000","year":2023,"countyName":"Warren","countySlug":"warren","agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","rank":"Patrolman","firstName":"Gary","lastName":"Ricker","officerSlug":"gary-ricker-phillipsburg-pd","terminated":"yes","demoted":"no","suspended":"yes","daysSuspended":294,"separatedWhileIAPending":"no","otherSanction":"Monetary fine or loss of pay","sustainedCharges":"Untruthful/Candor","description":"Officer Ricker was under two (2) IA investigation in 2022. The first (IA-22-001 on 2/8/2022) was an allegation that he had commit time thief from the department. During this matter he notified the dispatch center that he was off-duty while he was still being paid the the Town. During that IA investigation he gave a sworn taped statement under oath and lied during the interview. All chargers in that matter were sustainded. In the second investigation (IA-22-002 on 2/24/2022) the Warren County Prosecutor's Office was notified by the FBI that Officer Ricker was the target of a Child Pornography. His persnonal cellular phone had recieved an disseminated a number of videos and images of child pornagraphy while on and off-duty. During the joint criminal investigation Gary Ricker was arrested on 4/27/2022 and then on 12/4/2023 he plead guilty in an agreement to serve three (3) years in New Jersey State Prison.","sourceRef":{"file":"major-discipline-2020-2025","sheet":"Major Discipline Data","row":2000}}],"benchmark":{"year":2025,"investigationsPer100Officers":156.52173913043478,"countyMedianPer100":128.26086956521738,"statewideTypeMedianPer100":125.92592592592592,"countyPeerCount":8,"statewideTypePeerCount":445},"iaDetailByYear":[{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2021,"investigations":12,"allegations":{"Excessive Force":2,"Other Criminal Violation":3,"Other Departmental Rule Violation":3,"Demeanor":3,"Differential Treatment":1},"internalDispositions":{"not_provided":4,"Unfounded":2,"Exonerated":2,"Administratively Closed":2,"Not Sustained":2},"sustainedInvestigations":0,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-download-2021-2023","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2022,"investigations":13,"allegations":{"Other Departmental Rule Violation":6,"Sexual Assault/Criminal Sexual Violation":1,"Improper Arrest":2,"Differential Treatment":1,"Domestic violence (Non-Criminal)":1,"Excessive Force":1,"Demeanor":1},"internalDispositions":{"Sustained":6,"not_provided":2,"Exonerated":3,"Unfounded":1,"Administratively Closed":1},"sustainedInvestigations":0,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-download-2021-2023","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2023,"investigations":20,"allegations":{"Sexual assault/Criminal sexual violation":1,"Neglect of Duty":1,"Domestic violence (Non-Criminal)":2,"Conduct Unbecoming/Discredit To The Agency":5,"Insubordination/Disobeying An Order":2,"Other Departmental Rule Violation":4,"Demeanor":3,"Attendance issues":1,"Differential Treatment":1},"internalDispositions":{"Administratively Closed":3,"Sustained":5,"Unfounded":5,"not_provided":2,"Exonerated":3,"Not Sustained":2},"sustainedInvestigations":7,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-download-2021-2023","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2024,"investigations":27,"allegations":{"Demeanor":8,"Differential Treatment":3,"BWC/MVR Violation":1,"Attendance Issues":3,"Neglect of Duty":4,"Preventable MV Accident":1,"Other Criminal Violation":1,"Other Departmental Rule Violation":3,"Improper Search":2,"False Documentation/Falsifying A Report (Non-Criminal)":1},"internalDispositions":{"Exonerated":8,"Unfounded":8,"Not Sustained":1,"Sustained":8,"not_provided":2},"sustainedInvestigations":8,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-investigations-2024-2025","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1}},{"agencyId":"phillipsburg-pd","countySlug":"warren","countyName":"Warren","year":2025,"investigations":36,"allegations":{"Other Departmental Rule Violation":7,"Neglect of Duty":6,"Differential Treatment":7,"Other Criminal Violation":2,"Improper Search":1,"Attendance Issues":4,"Improper Entry":1,"BWC/MVR Violation":1,"Demeanor":4,"Domestic violence (Non-Criminal)":2,"Domestic violence (Criminal)":1},"internalDispositions":{"Not Sustained":5,"Sustained":10,"not_provided":15,"Unfounded":2,"Exonerated":4},"sustainedInvestigations":10,"sourceRef":{"file":"ia-investigations-2024-2025","sheet":"Sheet1","row":1}}],"officersInvolvedByYear":{"2024":27,"2025":36},"nonReportingYears":[]}}